Toggle bolts, which are sometimes referred to as “butterfly anchors”, are widely used fasteners for hanging and, more generally, mechanically coupling objects to hollow walls such as dry wall or plaster, or surfaces such as a countertop or sink. Typically, a toggle bolt includes a nut and a bolt. The nut has wings that open inside the hollow wall, bracing against it to securely hold the toggle bolt in place. When the wings are opened, they usually cover a wider area than the cross-sectional area of the bolt. This spreads the weight of an object or secured item over a larger area, which increases the weight that can be secured by the toggle bolt compared to a regular bolt.
This improved utility, however, is offset by additional difficulties encountered when installing a toggle bolt. For example, a user needs to push a screw driver into a slotted head of a bolt portion of the toggle bolt with enough force to maintain contact between the screw driver and the bolt head. At the same time, the user must pull on the bolt so that anchor wings of the toggle bolt engage with the interior of the hollow wall or surface. This provides the counterforce required so that the advancing bolt head becomes threaded through the nut portion of the anchor wings. As such, the user must simultaneously apply two opposing forces on the toggle bolt: inward pressure exerted on the bolt head by rotation of the screw driver to advance the bolt relative to the anchor wings, and outward pressure on the anchor wings to maintain contact between the wings and the interior of the hollow wall or surface.
It can be challenging to perform these operations simultaneously. For example, the user may hand tighten the toggle bolt until the anchor wings engage, and may then use a screwdriver or drill bit to finalize the tightening. Alternatively, a user may employ a screwdriver throughout the installation process, but the user typically needs to also use their other hand to pull the bolt outward so as to engage the anchor wings against the interior of the hollow wall or surface.
However, in many applications, such as those in which a toggle bolt is being installed in a confined space, the user may not easily access a toggle bolt with both hands. Consequently, installing a toggle bolt can be difficult or tiring, which can be frustrating for users.